- “Burnham told to trade nuclear umbrella for access to single market” – A proposal to offer Britain’s nuclear deterrent in exchange for access to the EU single market has been put to the Prime Minister, reports the Telegraph.
- “Mandarin who runs No 10 North lives in Islington townhouse” – The Mail reveals that the newly appointed Director General of No 10 North Sam Lister has no plans to swap his family’s comfortable life in the capital for a symbolic fresh start 200 miles away in Manchester.
- “Labour is the real party of the privileged elite” – In the Spectator, William Cash argues that despite Labour’s rhetoric about meritocracy and social equality, Burnham’s Government is stacked with Oxbridge insiders every bit as privileged as the Conservatives they replaced.
- “Reform: no talks until Restore expels co-founder accused of antisemitism” – Reform UK is refusing to enter merger talks with Restore until the new party expels co-founder Charlie Downes over an alleged antisemitic post on X targeting Nigel Farage, says the Telegraph.
- “Pilot uses flight path to draw a bin over Clacton” – The rivalry between Nigel Farage and Count Binface has taken to the skies after a pilot used his flight path to trace the shape of a giant bin directly over Clacton, reports the Telegraph.
- “Cambridge has destroyed itself through DEI” – In the Washington Examiner, Dan Hannan argues that the Jason Arday affair exposes how DEI hiring at Cambridge has corroded the university’s academic standards and credibility.
- “Jason Arday cancels book tour events promoting his memoir” – Jason Arday has cancelled a series of events to promote his memoir following accusations of plagiarism and allegations of making false claims about his life, says the Mail.
- “Establishment outrage at diversity hires is a masterclass in hypocrisy” – The Jason Arday scandal reveals how a well-intentioned push to broaden university intake tipped into a culture where due diligence was sacrificed for optics, writes Matthew Syed in the Sunday Times.
- “Arday and the academy” – On her Substack, Katy Barnett examines the Jason Arday affair and what it reveals about the state of modern academia beyond the culture wars.
- “Fawning liberals laid ground for the Jason Arday farce” – In the Times, Trevor Phillips argues that the Jason Arday scandal leaves genuine black professionals facing suspicion that their success is based on race rather than merit.
- “Foreign student slump forces A* universities to accept BBB grades” – A 10% drop in international student enrolment – who pay up to seven times more in fees – is forcing elite universities to lower their entry requirements for British undergraduates, reports the Sunday Times.
- “Revealed: Britain’s worst degrees for graduates being out of work” – The Mail has crunched the numbers to reveal which university courses leave graduates most likely to be out of work five years after finishing their degrees.
- “Liddle’s lesson is that free speech still needs protection” – Rod Liddle’s death was a grievous loss to his many admirers. In a leading article, the Sunday Times explains what people on both the Left and Right could learn from him.
- “Convicted terrorist runs honey business from London lock-up” – A convicted Islamic terrorist sentenced to death for plotting to kill an Egyptian Prime Minister is running a honey and food supply business in North London, reveals the Mail.
- “New IRA terrorists plan to drive migrants out of Ireland” – Republican terrorists are plotting a campaign of violence to force migrants out of Ireland, intelligence officials have told the Mail.
- “Israel rejects Trump’s Gaza plan” – Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Trump’s peace deal for Gaza, warning it would turn the enclave into “Hamastan”, reports the Telegraph.
- “Spy cameras on Navy drones secretly sent data to China” – Chinese spy cameras fitted to special forces boats destined for planned Gulf missions were secretly transmitting data to China, reveals the Telegraph.
- “Chinese wind turbine maker urges Burnham to overturn security ban” – Chinese wind turbine maker Ming Yang is pressing the Government to overturn a security-based ban, arguing it can help boost Andy Burnham’s “reindustrialisation” plan, says the Telegraph.
- “Green Party councillor charged with assaulting five people” – A Green Party councillor has been charged with assaulting five people, including three police officers, after West Midlands Police were called to reports of disorder in Edgbaston, reports the Mail.
- “‘I’m not ashamed’ of funding Extinction Rebellion, says City billionaire” – Hedge fund billionaire Sir Chris Hohn is standing by his support for Extinction Rebellion, insisting he’s “not ashamed” of backing the group despite its highly disruptive protests, says the Telegraph.
- “Fahnbulleh refuses to accept reality” – On his Substack, David Turver argues that the new Energy Secretary is refusing to accept that Net Zero policies are increasing energy bills.
- “UK ‘at higher risk of blackouts’ because of money-saving scheme” – Britain faces an increased risk of nationwide blackouts due to an electricity system rule change designed to hit Net Zero targets, reports the Times.
- “An extreme lightning event started the recent Northwest wildfires: did global warming play a role?” – A closer look at the extreme lightning event behind recent US wildfires raises fresh questions about whether global warming played a role, writes Cliff Mass on his weather blog.
- “When will the climate liars stop lying?” – The global warming scare may be finally beginning to fade, but the misinformation keeps pouring out, says Issues & Insights.
- “Euphemisms abound” – The language of rationing is being dressed up in ever more evasive euphemisms, notes Mark Hodgson at Climate Scepticism.
- “How parents are failing to protect their children from climate hysteria” – Schools and social media are fuelling young people’s climate fears and leaving parents to deal with the consequences, warns Kate Wills in the Telegraph.
- “Jeremy Clarkson says Diddly Squat harvest ‘f*****’ ahead of heatwave” – Jeremy Clarkson has posted a gloomy weather forecast for Chipping Norton to Instagram, captioning it “Harvest already f*****. May as well just enjoy it now”, according to the Mail.
- “BBC Weather presenters are ‘considering leaving the channel’” – BBC Weather’s longtime presenters including Tomasz Schafernaker and Louise Lear are reportedly considering leaving the channel over plans for huge cuts by bosses, reports the Mail.
- “Police told wildlife presenter to go on ‘thinking skills course’” – Wildlife presenter Anneka Svenska says she was left “shaking” after two officers visited her home near Royal Tunbridge Wells to recommend a “thinking skills course”, in what she describes as an attack on free speech, according to the Mail. Luckily, she had the Free Speech Union in her corner.
- “New Manchester Mayor refuses to commit to implementing trans guidance” – Bev Craig, who replaced Andy Burnham as Greater Manchester Mayor last month, has twice declined to commit to enforcing Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on access to single sex spaces, reports the Telegraph.
- “These days what’s true doesn’t matter, it’s what you feel that counts” – In the Telegraph, Leaf Arbuthnot speaks to Richard Dawkins ahead of his Oxford lecture marking 50 years since the publication of The Selfish Gene, as he laments a culture where feeling has displaced truth.
- “Aren’t we the best university in the world?” – The latest reimagined Downfall Hitler bunker rant has Cambridge University’s Vice-Chancellor facing a meltdown over plagiarism allegations.
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“Reform: no talks until Restore expels co-founder accused of antisemitism”
Yes, that was kind of a strange, daft post by Charlie Downes, but may I add this important public comment about the new possible connection being proposed between the firebombing of Nigel’s London home and the murder of Ann Widdecombe:
— “ANN WIDDECOMBE was about to expose the Child Maintenance Scam, so many men have committed suicide because of the wrongful court decisions. This is bigger than the Post Office Scandal, what this latest news is is just a diversion.”
— “Well said! That interview the chap did with Liam Tuffs about his work with Ann and the Child Maintenance Scam was very interesting.”
“Spy cameras on Navy drones secretly sent data to China” – Chinese spy cameras fitted to special forces boats destined for planned Gulf missions were secretly transmitting data to China”
This is staggering news, compromising even the Special Forces, like letting people from Hostile Alien cultures join and infiltrate the Armed Forces of the West…
“An extreme lightning event started the recent Northwest wildfires: did global warming play a role?”
No, arson started the recent Northwest wildfires, as arson usually starts most wildfires everywhere in the world:
Man accused of sparking a Spokane wildfire told police he planned it for weeks | AP News
Accused arsonist studied how to maximize Washington wildfire’s harm, police say | Washington state | The Guardian
“The 37-year-old man accused of sparking a devastating fire in Washington allegedly studied how to maximize the blaze’s destruction and was responsible for setting 25 other fires in the Spokane area over the past year, according to a court affidavit.”
“Euphemisms abound”
Here in Ireland (and it’s happened to us four times it two months under the guise of ‘nessasary maintenance’) the euphemisms for rationing are “peak demand reduction” and “demand-side response”
“New IRA terrorists plan to drive migrants out of Ireland”
Hypothetically it’s about time!
Hypothetically it should be the irish government that needs to answer to the IRA! (Just to be clear i do not condone violence in any way shape or form)
That video fairly made my morning. Coffee and laughs all the way. I have to admit, though, that my school German studies made me suspect that the captions did not always accurately reflect the spoken words.
What’s terrible about that movie clip is watching all those ordinary, normal people being completely controlled by one scrawny, bitter, twisted little madman, and utterly at the mercy of his every whim. Although many of the generals did try to assassinate him to save the German People, they could have just beaten him to a pulp, chained him in a castle dungeon where he belonged, and made peace with all the 20 countries he had forced them to invade. It shows the power of mind-control that dictators have over people who could easily rise up and defeat them, like the depraved Kim family of dictators in North Korea, setting themselves up as deities.
Only two weeks into the job and our Andy is embarking on a Tour of British post codes that will welcome him.
I guess Clacton on Friday will not be one of them.
He wants to find out what the concerns of “ordinary” British people are – them shouting them out loud for the past twenty years apparently didn’t get through.
“Mandarin who runs No 10 North lives in Islington townhouse”
Those Islington townhouses are not cheap. That said, you couldn’t pay me enough to live in one these days – Islington is horribly busy and full of tourists, unbearably smug “liberals” and wherever you are you are only a few hundred yards away from council estates that I would not enter.
I agree, and I detested the way all the rooms are stacked above each other, so you’re forever running up & down flights of stairs, with the kitchen in the dingy Victorian basement, and the dining room and living room above that, then the bedrooms stacked up on top of each other, like living in a square tower. The couple of ones I saw seemed so disjointed and uncomfortable, even though they had posh furnishings and interior decor. Small and cosy is better, in my view.
We lived in a townhouse for a long time, I’m certainly enjoying the light and space of semi rural England now, and being able to drive at more than 20mph.
BBC weather bunnies saying they might leave due to weather broadcast cuts. Yeah right, you really gonna get off the gravy train? See how much you make on U-tube. Jokers.
They might get a pot of cash from redundancy, then we’ll see. No point resigning if there is a prospect of redundancy from an organisation like that.
They could set up an independent podcast thingie, like Blair’s liar-in-chief and that weird Rory fella. Don’t know who consumes their guff, but it’s still going.
It will be sad if we lose Ms Lear and the particular insights she brings to weather forecasting with her degree in Music & Drama.
Rather ironic isn’t it, in the wake of the Arday plagiarism scandal, to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of “The Selfish Gene” – a book that popularised the work and theories of William Hamilton, but never gave him proper attribution or recognition?
It reveals the extent to which not just our universities but our entire education system has become a network of socialist, progressive madrassas.
The indoctrination begins at the toddler age, in nursery school. Climate this, gay that, race race race, It is absolutely relentless all the way through school. It is embedded into the official curriculum of every subject. Race, gays, climate, social justice is shoehorned into everything. All the way up to and including GCSE and A Level.
If this doesn’t get reformed, this stuff is never going to go away. The long journey back to a classic liberal education needs to start urgently.
No indoctrination in “classic liberal”, then?
I don’t know what a classic liberal education is. I went to a CofE primary school in the early to mid 70s and grant maintained grammar school in the late 70s/early 80s and don’t recall anything “controversial” or “political” or indeed dogmatically religious being taught at any of the schools. At primary school we were taught to read and write and do sums, at secondary school we were taught to pass O and A levels which focused on learning facts and logic and learning how to demonstrate said learning. Both schools expected good behaviour so we were also being taught how not to behave like a dick. I honestly could not tell you what the political or social views of our teachers were, though of course people on average were more “conservative” in those days.
My experience – late 1950s to early 1970s too.
Mine, too, in the same period of time – extremely good council primary school followed by Direct Grant Grammar School.
There probably is, but in values which I prefer. Those values are competence rover ideological purity, independence of thought over dogma, freedom of expression over protecting hurt feelings, resilience over making excuses.
Basically principles that lead to excellence and things being well done rather than to the erosion of value and things going to shit.
Speaking of excellence, this is worth a watch for anyone who has not seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvttIukZEtM&feature=youtu.be&t=2439
The late Justice Scalia.
“The thing I most worry about is that we will never be a distinguished age if we do not believe in excellence. If we have a hostility to ‘elitism’. The very notion that there are some modes of behaviour, some usages of language, that are better than others, the very notion that anything is better than anything else, once you reject that notion, you’re never going to improve, and I’m afraid that we have bought into that in a lot of fields.”
“There are dignified and excellent ways to behave and there are undignified and base ways to behave, and people who regularly do the former are better than people who regularly do the latter. And unless you believe that you’re going to have a vulgar society.”
Oh yes. We were “indoctrinated” in our British cultural values, and of morality, of manners, ethics, outlook, self-discipline, self-responsibility, self-reliance, self-subsistence, civic responsibilities and duties, history, heritage, hygiene, grooming, dress.